Wollongong

School Bus Information

The School Opal card: the smarter way to get to school

Introducing the School Opal card

The School Opal card gives eligible school students free travel on public transport between home and school on trains, buses and ferries within the Opal network.

The School Opal card replaces the old paper School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS) travel passes.

Who can apply?

Students need to live a minimum distance from their school to be eligible for a School Opal card, as follows:

Years K-2 (Infants) There’s no minimum distance.

Years 3-6 (Primary) 1.6km straight line distance or 2.3km walking or further.

Years 7-12 (Secondary) 2.0km straight line distance or 2.9km walking or further.

Who needs to apply?

Many students will receive a School Opal card automatically. It will be sent to their school at the start of the 2016 school year.

However you will need to apply if:

applying for an school travel pass for the first time

enrolling in Kindergarten

progressing from Year 2 to Year 3

progressing from Year 6 to Year 7

changing name, school and/or address

requesting an additional pass as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation.

Applications must be made by a parent or legal guardian if you are less than 16 years of age. If you are 16 years or older you need to complete and sign the application form yourself. Applications are subject to eligibility criteria. For full details visit https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/

How to apply

Print, sign and date the completed form and submit it to your school for endorsement

Step 3

Your school sends the endorsed application to Transport for NSW. Once approved, the School Opal card will be sent to the home address you provided in the application

Better together

The School Opal card is only for travel to and from school on school days and doesn’t cover travel to after school care, school excursions, sport and other activities away from school, so it’s a good idea to get a Child/Youth Opal card for personal travel.

Child/Youth Opal card benefits for kids (and parents)

Here’s a quick show and tell:

Travel on trains, ferries, buses and light rail with one ticket

Never pay more than $7.50* per day Monday to Saturday

Never pay more than $2.50* on Sundays

After eight paid journeys you travel free* with Opal thanks to the Weekly Travel Reward

*Excluding Sydney Airport station access fee

Dedicated School Bus Services

In addition to our normal route bus services, we provide a number of dedicated school bus services. Click here to find out more about our dedicated route bus services or mouse over the "School Bus" heading above and select "School Bus Services".